3. Will They Lie There Ever More

I was born under the stars, never meant to journey far
from all the faces and the place that I call Home
any my father lived the same and my father before him
but now I see in my son’s eyes something has changed
And the smoke it has stopped rising from the chimney up the road
and the light no longer shines over the door
Last year I leant a hand to haul the boats onto the land
They’ve been lying there for 19 years or more
and I wonder will they lie there ever more

Twasn’t many years ago, strapping men round here would go
out in their skiffs and haul their traps out on the sea
And then shortly they’d return, loaded down for stem to stern
and weight off the fish and store their gear away
Now the waters are as barren as the cliffs that guard the cove
and catch the north wind blowing off the shore
and I wonder how an ocean turns as lifeless as a stone
and I wonder will they lie there ever more

Well I hear some people say we’d be better off to stay ashore
and train for jobs outside the fishery
Now wouldn’t I look like a fool to go trapsen off to school
after 40 years of living off the sea
Now my son he’s barely 21 and handy at the trawls
For years he helped me fish the Labrador
Now he’s moving to Ontario before the first snow fall
Dad there’s nothing left for me round her no more
And I wonder will I see his children born
and I wonder will they lie there ever more.

By: John Phippard